Chapter 28 Thea
I woke up to the sound of two men screaming. Shooting my body up, I looked around the strange room. A sense of deja vu washed over my body as I realized I was in a strange hotel room.
Feeling the pain that rang throughout my body, my memories came back to me as I remembered Matteo breaking into Dav and Serena’s house and taking me.
Fear crept into my mind. Was he going to kill me this time? I hoped Maverick would come and save me, but I wasn’t sure how he would begin to know where to look. I began to cry as I thought about never seeing him, Dav or Serena again. Hell, I would miss all of the club members.
I also thought about Chase and Bridgette. Would they even know what happened to me?
The door to the bedroom opened and a man I recognized as Luca Santoro walked through.
“It’s good to see you again, Thea,” he said my name softly. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” I whispered. “I’m okay.”
“Good,” he nodded. “I’m taking you home.”
“You are?” The shock I felt was clear and he chuckled.
“I am,” he said as he reached out his hand to me. “I’m on strict orders to take you home or your scary lover is going to rain hell upon me and my future generations.”
I laughed. Luca was just like I remembered, the most polite yet goofy man I had ever met, and beautiful. The man looked like Luca Calvini from When in Rome.
I began to get out of the bed and grimaced at the sharp pain I felt in my ribs. I knew from my past experience with Matteo that he more than likely cracked one or two.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I'm taking you to the hospital anyway.”
I finished getting up and began limping towards the door.
“I don’t need a hospital,” I said, proudly.
“You do, but that’s not why I’m taking you,” he said, offering me his arm to use as a crutch. “Your sister-in-law went into labor.”
“What? Is she okay?”
“Indeed, she is,” he said with a smile. “You now have a beautiful, healthy nephew.”
I smiled at his words. I was happy that Serena and my new nephew were okay, but embarrassment still washed over me.
I wasn’t a good enough person to be an aunt.
They shouldn’t want me in his life. No one in the club should want me there.
I put both Serena and the baby’s lives in danger along with poor Blake.
Oh god, Blake. I hoped he was okay, too.
As we exited the room, I let out a relaxing breath as I realized Matteo must have left. We made our way to the elevator and to the parking garage, and Luca helped me get into his black Ferrari. Shutting the door behind me, he walked around and got into the driver's side.
He let a few moments pass before he started the car. Looking over at me, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell Flynn about the baby?”
“I was scared,” I admitted. “If I was pregnant, I didn’t know if that changed anything, so I waited. But I got home, and a few days later, I woke up with so much blood around me. I knew for sure that I lost it. By then it was too late.”
“I understand,” he said, as he pulled out of the garage. “I hope you know I’m very sorry for what has happened to you.”
“I know,” I said, putting my arm on his thigh. “Thank you for saving me again.”
He smiled. “I did no such thing either time, Thea.”
“If it wasn’t you, who was it that called Flynn?”
“A friend,” he said. “I just helped him get in. You know-” I quickly cut him off.
“He will never find out,” I assured him, and he smiled.
***
“Are you sure it’s safe to come up with me?” I asked Luca as we rode the elevator up to Labor and Delivery.
“I had strict directions that I was to escort you back,” he chuckled. “Besides that, your man doesn’t scare me.”
“He doesn’t?” I asked, not believing him.
“Well, maybe a little, but that stays between us.”
I pretended to zip my lips shut and we both laughed.
The elevator dinged and the doors shot open.
With a perfect view of the waiting room, everyone looked up at the elevator and at me.
The room was packed with club members and old ladies.
I watched as Maverick, Davien, Jane and Anna rushed over to me with worried looks on their faces.
Maverick was the first to hug me and I grimaced at the pain that shot up into my back. He quickly let me go and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.
“You need a doctor,” he said, his worried eyes giving me a once-over.
“Doc can look at me later,” I said and offered smiles to the others.
“You kept your word,” Bane said to Luca and I watched the awkward exchange.
“Take care of her this time,” he said back and turned to me. “Thea suits you much better than Francesca, Mia Cara.” (My dear.)
“Promise me something else,” he said and I nodded. “You won’t live another moment in the darkness of your past.”
“Luca,” I said.
“No, listen. Thea, you have to stop punishing yourself for the things you haven’t caused.
Only one person is to blame for this and it isn’t you.
It’s time for you to live for only your happiness and yours alone.
Promise me, and I promise to continue to do my best to keep my brother away from you, especially now that your identity has been compromised. ”
I placed a hand on his arm and smiled at him.
“I know you will,” I said. “And I promise.”
“Good,” he smiled at me and nodded his head to the others. I couldn’t help it and gave him a gentle hug. After a moment, I let him go, and he stepped back onto the elevator, nodding to the others.
“Gentleman, ladies,” he saluted and the elevator doors shut.
“God, that man was beautiful,” Anna said as we walked into the waiting room.
“Anna, babe, you really need to get laid,” I teased and she pulled me into a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said faintly.
“I’m okay,” I assured her, ignoring the look of disbelief Maverick was giving me. He was seeing through my facade like he was always able to do. I was broken inside and we both knew it.
“I have something to say, though.” All eyes shot over to me as the room got silent. “I’m so beyond sorry that my past affected the safety of the club. I should have been honest and because I wasn’t, Serena and Blake got hurt,” I paused. “Oh god, Blake!”
“He’s okay, babe,” Maverick said and kissed my forehead. “And none of us blame you. We’re all just glad you’re back and safe.”
“If anything, I blame myself because you should have been able to trust me to protect you, little sis. And I’m not just talking about now, I’m talking about two years ago.”
“Dav, it’s not your fault,” I said. “I did trust you and that’s why when I found you, I was going to tell you everything so we could deal with it together, but I thought it was just going to be you.
I wasn’t expecting you to have Serena and the club, too.
That’s why I kept trying to leave, I couldn’t risk putting all of you in danger. ”
He gently wrapped me into his arms, and I let the tears come down.
“I will always do my best to protect you,” he said. “No matter what else is going on. I’m sorry, Thea, I’m so sorry.”
I’m sure everyone was shocked to see such a hardass like Dav be so sincere, but this was the brother I knew, the one I had grown up with and I felt a warm feeling in my heart as I realized that I had finally gotten him back.
“Now enough of that,” I said, wiping my tears. “I want to meet my nephew!”
Unfortunately, the baby was still having a few tests and checks being done, so a few hours had passed before the doctors had let us get back there.
As Davien and Maverick showed me into Serena’s room, my heart melted when I saw her laying in the bed holding the smallest, most adorable baby I had ever seen.
He looked like a tiny porcelain doll in her arms. Serena looked exhausted, but she was healthy and happy as she beamed up at me and gave me a smile.
“Thea! I’m so glad you’re okay,” she expressed. “Come meet Idris Calvin Blake.”
I walked over to her smiling as I looked down at my new nephew. “Hi Idris, I’m your Aunt Thea,” I said to the sleeping baby.
“Do you want to hold him?” She asked.
“I would, but I’m pretty sore right now,” I said, my voice small hoping to not offend her.
“I bet,” she said with a frown. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more to protect you.”
“You’re sorry? I’m sorry I brought that psycho to your house. You and Idris were almost hurt. I shouldn’t even be in here right now.”
On the way over, Luca had told me about how Serena was in shock after Matteo visited and that she had fallen and gone into labor. I felt so guilty for the whole thing. If I had left when I first got here, none of this would have happened.
“None of that,” she said as she waved her free hand in the air. “You did everything in your power to protect me and baby Idris. For that, we’ll always be grateful.”
I believed her, but it was hard to forgive myself.
I pushed the feeling down and looked over at Davien and Maverick and the look of admiration in their eyes made me smile.
Maverick looked over at me and gave me a wink that made me blush.
If this was how my life was going to go, I would be perfectly content.
***
“You didn’t have to carry me into your room,” I told a very determined Maverick who was walking into his room as he carried me bridal style.
“I did,” he said as he softly laid me down on his bed. “Doc said that you need to rest, which means staying off of your feet. Plus, I didn’t get to go to the gym these past couple of days and I needed the workout.”
“Asshole,” I laughed, punching his arm and he chuckled.
“Hey, I need to get stronger in case more men from your past show up. I’m starting to feel like I’m in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,” he joked and sat next to me in the bed. I didn’t hide my shocked expression.
“You’ve watched that movie before?”
“Why, is that surprising?”
“That my sexy badass biker boyfriend who threatens to gut mafia men like fish watches romantic comedies? Yes,” I joked.
“That is definitely not a romantic comedy,” he scoffed.
“It definitely is!”
“It’s not, it’s an action movie.”
I laughed and pulled the blanket over my body, trying to get comfortable without hurting my ribs. Doc said that luckily my ribs were just bruised and that they should be completely healed in a few weeks.
“Whatever you say, babe.”
I nuzzled into the blanket and watched as he stared at me with a look I couldn’t describe.
“Thea, when I figured out you were gone, I had never been more scared in my life,” he admitted.
“I know,” was all I could think to say. I figured he was losing his mind at the idea of me being hurt.
“I watched that video of that asshole putting his hands on you, and I thought I could have burned this whole town down if it meant bringing you home. The thing is, babe, I can’t promise you it won’t happen again.”
“Are you talking about the deal you made with Luca? Because, if so, I trust him and I trust you, Maverick.”
He sighed, as he scooted over to me and I adjusted so I could lay my head into his lap.
“No, I’m not talking about the deal. I’m talking about your connection to me and the club. People could try to use you to get to me, and it would work because I love you so fucking much. I’d do anything to protect you, even if it meant letting you walk away.”
His words pulled at my heart. Was he trying to break up with me?
“Babe, I’m not breaking up with you,” he added as he started to play with my hair. “I just mean, I’d understand it if that’s what you wanted.”
“I don’t want that,” I said. “Maverick, you’re the first person in my entire life who ever really saw me, the real me, the darkness I’ve kept buried for a long time.
You saw it the first night we met, even though I thought I had been doing such a good job at hiding it, and you didn’t run away.
Since then you’ve been pushing me to not change, but be a better version of myself.
I love you, Maverick, and I don’t care what comes our way because I don’t ever want to let you go. I’m in this.”
He didn’t say anything, he just bent down to capture my lips and we stayed cuddled up together for a while. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Maverick smiled before he told the person to come in.
To my surprise, Chase walked into the room wearing a cheeky smile.
“Chase! What are you doing here?”
“I called him when Luca said he was going to come and get you,” Maverick said as he carefully moved out from under my head and got off of the bed. “Thought it might make you feel better.”
“Hey, kid,” Chase greeted me. “I brought some food and figured we could just watch some movies.”
I mouthed a thank you to Maverick and he winked before leaving the room. Chase got into bed next to me and began scrolling through Netflix.
“I can’t believe he called you,” I said to my best friend. “What did he say?”
“Nothing much,” Chase said. “But he did say I’d make a nice prospect.”
“Shut up,” I gasped. “He did?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Could you imagine the look on my parents’ faces if I joined an outlaw biker club?”
We both laughed at the idea and he finally picked some random action movie to watch. I couldn’t help the tears that came as we sat there in the silence.
“Everything is going to be okay, kid. Maybe not now but eventually. Okay?”
“Okay.”